West Ham United may have splashed out £100 million over the summer but they missed out on a potential bargain.
Manuel Pellegrini was backed with unprecedented spending during the transfer window.
The Chilean signed 10 players for a total cost of around £100 million.
Felipe Anderson was the club’s new record buy at £40 million.
Did Hammers miss out on free transfer hat-trick?
The Hammers spent the rest of their money bringing in the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko, Issa Diop, Fabian Balbuena, Lukasz Fabianski and Lucas Perez for a fee.
Meanwhile Jack Wilshere and Ryan Fredericks were free transfer captures.
And it seems West Ham could have added another eye-catching bargain to their ranks with the signing of former Newcastle United and Paris Saint Germain attacker Hatem Ben Arfa, according to French media outlet Foot 365.
Player hedged his bets, Liverpool and Chelsea to blame
According Foot 365, the 31-year-old free agent rejected an approach from the Hammers in the hope that Lyon would sign him as a replacement for Nabil Fekir – who has been linked with big money moves to Liverpool and Chelsea.
Fekir ended up staying with Lyon, though.
And that put paid to any move to West Ham for Ben Arfa when the window closed for English clubs to buy last week.
So would Ben Arfa have been a good fit for the Hammers?
Problematic, impossible, banished, lazy, maverick, genius… these are just some of the words associated with Hatem Ben Arfa after spells at Newcastle United and Hull City in the Premier League.
Matured Ben Arfa worth a second chance?
“Some mavericks you can lose, sometimes it gets away from you and becomes problematic, Hatem up at Newcastle became impossible,” Alan Pardew admitted of his former attacker after managing him during his time at St James Park.
Steve Bruce, who took Ben Arfa on loan at Hull, was not so diplomatic.
“What a dreadful waste of real talent,” Bruce said after cancelling the loan.
“It’s criminal because the lad can play all right but I must question how much he is in love with the game. To be great you have to be a team player not an individual.”
Whether it was coincidence or the words of Bruce and Pardew struck a chord, the penny seemed to drop for Ben Arfa after his time in the North East and a move to Nice back in his native France saw his talent flourish.
West Ham won’t be losing any sleep
It was there that he scored 17 goals in 34 games and earned himself an instant move to Paris St Germain.
But having failed to establish himself in the capital side’s team, Ben Arfa was after a new challenge.
His talents certainly fit the West Ham mould.
However, the player hedged his bets in the hope of a move elsewhere.
So the East Londoners should not lose too much sleep Ben Arfa did not sign up for Project Pellegrini.
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